Container inspection and rejection apparatus



Feb. 1, 1966 c. w. KULIG ETAL CONTAINER INSPECTION AND REJECTION APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 25, 1965 FIC3-5 KLJLIG RS W. ANDERSON INVENTO CONSTANTINE BRUCE A- ATTORNEYS Feb. 1, 1966 c. w. KULIG ETAL CONTAINER INSPECTION AND REJECTION APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 25, 1965 Feb. 1, 1966 Filed June 25, 1963 FIG-7 C. W. KULIG ETAL CONTAINER INSPECTION AND REJECTION APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 CRt /62 w Ff/[CT SOZE/VO/D United States Patent 3,232,428 iNSPECTiON ANE) REJECTHON APPARATEB Constantine W. Kniig, Windsor, Bruce A. Anderson, Manchester, Conn, assignors to Earhart Corporation, a corporation of Connecticut Filed June 25, 1963, Ser. No. 290,343 2 Ciaims. (Cl. 209-9t9) CONTAENER ble of accurately inspecting a plurality of containers and rejecting those containers which do not measure up to the rather strict container size tolerances necessitated by present day container filling and labeling machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide a compact,

inexpensive container inspection and rejection apparatus capable of operating in conjunction with existing container conveying systems.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a device for inspecting the height of a plurality of containers being conveyed along a belt type conveyor system, which device is not limited in its accuracy to the dimensional consistency of the belt itself and which device nevertheless utilizes the motive force supplied by said belt for moving the containers therethrough.

The drawings show a preferred embodiment of the invention and such embodiment will be described, but it will be understood that various changes may be made from the construction disclosed, and that the drawings and description are not to be construed as defining or limiting the scope of the invention, the claims forming a part of this specification being relied upon for that purpose.

Of the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a preferred construction of the present invention showing its relationship to a conveyor belt system;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the FIG. 1 device;

FIG. 3 is a side View of the FIG. 1 device showing a container being inspected;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along the line i of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view along the line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a view along the line 6-4; of HG. 3; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic wiring diagram showing the electric circuitry employed in the FIG. 1 construction.

Referring now to the drawings, a container inspection and rejection apparatus it} is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 in clamped relation to a conveyor system 12 on which a plurality of containers 14, 3.4 are adapted to being conveyed in the general direction of the arrow 15. As shown in FIG. 2, four screws 16, 16 hold the device it against the conveyor supporting structure. A pair of guide rails 13, 13 divert the containers laterally from the conveyor 12 onto a generally horizontal height reference plate 21; of the inspection apparatus, and they also redirect the inspected containers back onto the conveyor as best shown in PEG. 1. Thus the movement of the conveyor belt provides the motive power for transporting the containers through the inspection apparatus 10, the line pressure of the oncoming containers being utilized to slide the containers across the reference plate and to return them to the conveyor belt.

A generally vertical base plate 22 of the inspection device ltl is attached to the conveyor system 12 by the 3,232,428 Patented Feb. I, 1956 screws 16, 16, and a generally rectangular control box 24 is mounted on the said base plate and houses the various relays and other electric circuitry to be described in greater detail hereinafter. A forwardly facing wall 26 of said control box, best shown in FIG. 2, provides a control panel for setting up the device and for presenting pertin nt information in visual form. A pair of counters, 28 and 3% respectively, present numerically the total number of containers inspected and the number rejected. Thumb wheels are also provided on these counters for periodically resetting the same. A power switch 32 is provided on the lower right side of the panel as and mounted thereabove are a set up and a reject switch 34 and 36 respectively, the functions of which will be described in greater detail hereinbelow. A fuse holder 33 is provided to the right side of the panel 26 to protect the electric circuitry of the present invention. A vertical row of indicator lights 38, 4t and 42. are provided on the left side of the panel 2%. The lowermost of these lights 38 indicates when power is supplied to the control box 24. The function of the other two will be discussed hereinafter.

A vertical post 44 is attached at its lower end 45 to the box 24- betwcen the lights and the counters by two screws 46, 4.6. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, said post comprises a threaded rod or screw 48 supported for rotation about its vertical axis by two bar members Stl, 50 which are rig-idly attached to said lower post end 45 and to an upper post end 47. The screw 48 is rotatably received in said upper end portion and a hand wheel 52 at the upper end of the said post 44 provides a convenient means for rotating said screw.

A gaging head So is mounted on a generally horizontal beam 55 and may be positioned longitudinally thereof at any convenient location. The beam 56 is attached to a threaded nut structure 58 which is threadably received on said rod or screw &8 and restrained against rotation by the bars 5%, Sit. Thus, the nut structure 53 supports the gaging head 54 and beam 56. As so constructed, the gaging head 54 may be accurately adjusted vertically to any desired height above the reference plate 20 by rotation of the hand Wheel 52.

FIG. 4 shows in section the construction of the nut structure 58. A center portion 66 threadably receives the rod 48 and two recessed areas on either side of said center portion 66 slidably receive the bars 50, 50 so that the resulting nut structure 58 is restrained against rotation relative to the vertical post structure 44 described heretofore. Two end plates 62 and 64 are attached to tie nut center portion by eight screws 66, 66 at least four of which are provided with springs '68, 68 so that the frictional force between one plate 64 and one vertical bar 50 can be adjusted for accurate presetting of the gaging head 54 above the reference plate 20. The screws as, as may be tightened against the plate 64 to lock the nut structure at the appropriate height assuring that the vertical spacing between the gaging head and reference plate does not vary during operation of the device. The horizontal beam 5-6, which supports the gaging head 54, is rigidly attached to the nut end plate 62 as by welding or the like. Finally, a vertical index scale 79 is attached to the bar Stl to provide a convenient reference in setting up the device for inspecting containers of a size commonly encountered. Elongated mounting slots 73, 73

(FIG. 3) in said scale permit accurate positioning of the scale on a particular inspection apparatus.

Referring now to the gaging head 54 in greater detail, a gaging vane 72 is shown pivotally supported from two downwardly extending arms 74, 74 which arms in conjunction with a horizontal portion 76 of said gaging head 54 form a generally U-shaped bracket 78 best shown in 3. A vertical flange 3%? extends u wardly from the horizontal portion 76 and two head mounting bolts 82, 82 provide the means for mounting the head on the beam 56. An elongated opening 84 in one side of the box shaped beam permits lateral adjustment of the head with respect to the conveyor belt 12. The head 54 and the guide rails 18, 18 are preferably so positioned that the containers 14, 14 are fed onto the reference plate 219 just far enough so as to clear the conveyor belt 12 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The gaging vane 72 is generally rectangular in shape and fixedly attached to a horizontal axle 86 extending laterally between the arms 74, 74. Three screws 88, 88 are used to attach the vane to this axle which is rotatively received in the arms in anti-friction bearing units.

As shown in FIG. 3, this axle extends through said arms 74, 74 and attached to one end thereof, just outside the arm, is a first crank 90. This crank has a small roller 92 (FIG. adapted to engage the nylon actuating arm 94 of a first switch 96. The other end of the axle 86 projects beyond the other of said arms and attached thereto is a second crank 98 similar to the first and having a small roller 100 (FIG. 6) adapted to engage the nylon actuating arm 102 of a second switch 11%. The vane 72 is biased to engage the stop pins 740, 74a in the position shown by a tension spring 1116 located between the upper end of the said vane and a cotter pin 108 in the horizontal portion 76 of the gaging head 54. As so arranged, the lower end of said vane 72 is adapted to engage the upper end of containers carried therebeneath on the reference plate 20, and said vane, at the urging of said containers, is adapted to move generally clockwise as viewed in FIG. 5, or counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 6. It will be apparent that for a given group of containers the gaging head 54 can be preset vertically so that containers which are below a first predetermined height will fail to actuate said first switch 96 and by properly locating the second switch 104 with respect to the first, containers above a second predetermined height will actuate said second switch.

In order to provide a convenient means for adjusting the vertical spacing of these switches with respect to one another, the second of these, 104, is mounted on a generally vertical plate 108 which is pivotally connected to the arm 74 by a bolt 110, as shown in FIG. 6. A second bolt 112 between said adjusting plate and said am is received in a slotted opening 114 in the plate to lock said second switch in the desired relationship to the first switch. A vernier screw 116 is provided to accurately locate the plate 108 land a tension spring 117 is provided between the plate and the arm to resist the movement of the adjusting screw 116 whereby very fine adjustments can be made and the size tolerance of bottles being inspected can be very closely controlled.

Turning now to the structure for rejecting a container, the height of which does not fall within said first and second predetermined heights, an electrically controlled pneumatically actuated plunger 118 is supported below the gaging head 54 and alongside a container 1411 being inspected. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 an L-shaped bracket 120 attached to the beam 56 supports a slotted bracket 122 having a generally horizontal flange 124 to which is attached a hollow housing 126 in which said plunger 118 is slidably received. An air line 128 best shown in FIG. 1 supplies air pressure to said housing for actuating said plunger on command of an electrically controlled air valve 130 of the solenoid type located adjacent to said housing 126. The solenoid valve 130 is of conventional construction and need not be described in detail here. 'It should be noted, however, that said valve is preferably located as close to the plunger housing 126 i as possible so that only a small volume of air need be pressurized to actuate the plunger 118. As so constructed, a fast acting rejecting means is provided allowing inspection and rejection of containers which are being .moved quite rapidly past an apparatus of the present mvention. As for the pneumatic actuator itself, it too may be of conventional construction comprising the airtight housing 126 and the plunger 118 which is spring loaded to the retracted position shown. In connection with this actuator, it should be noted that in handling frangible containers such as glass bottles the plunger 118 is preferably provided with a nylon tip to prevent breaking the rejected bottles.

Finally, to complete the description of the structure shown in the drawings, a third switch 132 with its as sociated nylon actuating arm 134 is shown below the housing 126, being supported therebeneath by an L- shaped bracket 136 and a generally horizontal plate 138 best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. One function of this switch is to actuate the total counter 28 discussed hereinabove. A second function is to complete an electric circuit for actuating the plunger 118 when the bottle being inspected fails to actuate the first switch or when it actuates the second switch in the gaging head 54.

Turning now to the electric circuitry used in the apparatus described herein, FIG. '7 shows in schematic fashion the function of the various switches, lights and counters previously mentioned and in addition shows the relays used in operating the counters 28 and 30 and the reject solenoid 1319. As there shown, a source 140 of volt, 50/60 cycle alternating current is shown supplying power to switch 32. The indicator light 38 will glow when the power switch is closed. Fuse 33 is provided to protect the electrical components.

The first switch 96 will close whenever a container moves vane 72 a sufficient distance. By presetting the gaging head, as mentioned previously, only those containers which are above a first predetermined height will close said first switch 96. With the switch. 6 closed, a pass relay 142 is energized and the normally closed contact points 144 open assuring that the reject solenoid is not actuated by closing of the switch 96 alone.

Referring now to the second switch 184, it will be recalled that only a container which is above said second predetermined height can close said second switch 104. Thus, closing of the second switch 104 energizes a high or override pass relay 146 and the normally open contacts 148 close overriding the contacts 144. However, the reject solenoid 130 will not be energized by the closing of said second switch 104 alone. The third switch 132 must also close in order to energize trigger relay 150 and close its associated contact points 152 so that current will reach the reject solenoid 130. In order to assure that this sequence of events will occur as described, the second and third switches 104 and 132 are so arranged that the former will always close prior to the latter. The nylon arm 102 associated with said second switch 104 will cause this switch to remain closed until said third switch 132 also closes.

Thus, the three switches 96, 104 and 132 are arranged to be tripped in sequence and in that order unless for some reason one or both of the vane associated switches 96 and 104 are not tripped at all. For example, a container which is below said first predetermined height will not trip said vane associated switches 96, 104 respectively. Thus, such a container would trip only the third switch 132 energizing the trigger relay 150 and closing its associated contact points 152. The normally closed contacts 144 of the pass relay 142 would remain closed providing a current path to the reject solenoid 130. It will also be noted that energizing relay 150 also closes a second set of contacts 155 which in turn allows current to energize relay 156. A set of normally closed contacts 158 are thereby opened to de-energize relay 150. Relay 150 is provided with sufficient drop out time to allow a sufficient pulse to the reject solenoid 130 to assure rejection of a container from the line.

In the event that only the first and third switches 96 and 132 respectively, are closed, the total counter 28 will operate in the manner just described but the reject mechanism will not operate since pass relay 142 will be energized and its associated normally closed contacts 144 will open preventing current from energizing reject solenoid 130. All three switches used in this apparatus require a greater movement of their arms to open than is required to close them. This feature may be likened to a mechanical memory device and is desirable in that a high container having an uneven top surface might otherwise be passed by the inspection apparatus if said second vane associated switch should chance to reopen before said third switch had closed. In this connection, since all containers inspected will actuate the third switch 132, the length of time required to sequentially reopen this switch could limit the speed at which the apparatus could operate. Therefore, relay 156, which opens contacts 158 shutting off current to relay 150, will continue to be energized as a result of latching contacts 162 assuring a single pulse to reject the defective container. When switch 132 returns to normal position by action of an inspected container, relay 156 is de-energized, closing contacts 158 and opening contacts 162 to condition the circuitry for the next cycle.

The counters 28 and 30, for indicating respectively the total number of containers inspected and rejected, are actuated by the same electric pulses which operate the relay 150 and the reject solenoid 130 respectively.

The reject switch 36 previously mentioned in connection with the control panel 26 is closed during normal operation but may be opened to preclude inadvertent energizing of the reject solenoid 130 and actuation of the air driven plunger 118 during setting up of the apparatus. Also, in this connection, closing set up switch 34 on panel 26 brings the lights 40 and 42 into operation as an aid in adjusting the switches 96 and 104. This switch 34 is provided to permit taking these lights out of the circuit during normal operation.

The invention claimed is:

1. A container inspection and rejection apparatus for use in conjunction with a container conveying system, said apparatus comprising a generally horizontal refer ence surface, a gaging head supported above said surface, the conveying system being adapted to pass containers across said surface and beneath said gaging head, a vane pivotally supported in said head on a generally horizontal axis for engagement by each container passing across said surface so as to be pivoted upwardly thereby, electric circuitry associated with said gaging head including a first normally open switch adapted to be closed by upward pivoted movement of the vane caused by a passing container having a height greater than a first predetermined height, a second normally open switch carried by said head and adapted to be closed by upward pivoting movement of the vane caused by a passing container having a height greater than a second predetermined height greater than the first predetermined height, means for adjusting the vertical position of one of said switches on said gaging head relative to the other of said switches .whereby to vary the difference between the said first and second predetermined heights, said circuitry also including a reject solenoid and a third normally open switch adapted to be closed by each passing container, and relay means in said circuit operable to energize said solenoid upon closing of said third switch only if said first switch has not previously been closed or if said second switch has been previously closed, and container reject means operable when said solenoid is energized to reject a passing container.

2. A container height inspection and rejection apparatus as defined in claim 1 and including means for adjusting said gaging head vertically so as to vary the height of said vane above said surface.

References Qited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,368,796 2/1945 Ardell 209-88 3,053,387 9/1962 Foss 2099O 3,101,848 8/1963 Uhlig 20972 ROBERT E. REEVES, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CONTAINER INSPECTION AND REJECTION APPARATUS FOR USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH A CONTAINER CONVEYING SYSTEM, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL REFERENCE SURFACE, A GAGING HEAD SUPPORTED ABOVE SAID SURFACE, THE CONVEYING SYSTEM BEING ADAPTED TO PASS CONTAINERS ACROSS SAID SURFACE AND BENEATH SAID GAGING HEAD, A VANE PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED IN SAID HEAD ON A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL AXIS FOR ENGAGEMENT BY EACH CONTAINER PASSING ACROSS SAID SURFACE SO AS TO BE PIVOTED UPWARDLY THEREBY, ELECTRIC CIRCUITRY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID GAGING HEAD INCLUDING A FIRST NORMALLY OPEN SWITCH ADAPTED TO BE CLOSED BY UPWARD PIVOTED MOVEMENT OF THE VANE CAUSED BY A PASSING CONTAINER HAVING A HEIGHT GREATER THAN A FIRST PREDETERMINED HEIGHT, A SECOND NORMALLY OPEN SWITCH CARRIED BY SAID HEAD AND ADAPTED TO BE CLOSED BY UPWARD PIVOTING MOVEMENT OF THE VANE CAUSED BY A PASSING CONTAINER HAVING A HEIGHT GREATER THAN A SECOND PREDETERMINED HEIGHT GREATER THAN THE FIRST PREDETERMINED HEIGHT, MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE VERTICAL POSITION OF ONE OF SAID SWITCHES ON SAID GAGING HEAD RELATIVE TO THE OTHER OF SAID SWITCHES WHEREBY TO VARY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SAID FIRST AND SECOND PREDETERMINED HEIGHTS, SAID CIRCUITRY ALSO INCLUDING A REJECT SOLENOID AND A THIRD NORMALLY OPEN SWITCH ADAPTED TO BE CLOSED BY EACH PASSING CONTAINER, AND RELAY MEANS IN SAID CIRCUIT OPERABLE TO ENERGIZE SAID SOLENOID UPON CLOSING OF SAID THIRD SWITCH ONLY IF SAID FIRST SWITCH HAS NOT PREVIOUSLY BEEN CLOSED OR IF SAID SECOND SWITCH HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY CLOSED, AND CONTAINER REJECT MEANS OPERABLE WHEN SAID SOLENOID IS ENERGIZED TO REJECT A PASSING CONTAINER. 